


Singer of Shanties

by FollowTheFirefly



Category: Assassin's Creed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 11:56:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4478450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FollowTheFirefly/pseuds/FollowTheFirefly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Edward is puzzled as to why Mary won't sing shanties on the ship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Singer of Shanties

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't know how I got the idea for this one. I think I was playing and singing shanties and it came about, but I can't be sure. And I'll probably have them in my head for a week.

It wasn’t uncommon to wake up to rain in the pirate’s cove. Considering their location, it would be strange if there was a day where it didn’t rain at all. What was so unusual about that morning in particular as that there were sounds of shanties being sung amidst the sounds of raindrops falling on the roof of the manor and when Adéwalé opened the windows of the den where he and Mary were studying nautical charts, they could hear that the shanties were loud enough to be heard throughout the island. 

Shaking his head, Adéwalé closed the windows again. Singing shanties loudly was a normal thing to do at ten at night, but certainly not ten in the morning, especially when people were trying to work.

“They’re quite enthusiastic this morning,” Adéwalé observed, still staring out the window as raindrops pelted the glass, leaving trails of water behind in their wake.

“Probably drunk already,” Mary sighed, attempting to focus her eyes on the maps in front of her. She’d been staring at them for so long that she was no longer retaining what she was seeing.

“Not likely,” Adéwalé smirked. “Captain Kenway sold our entire supply of rum to pay for the repairs to the ship.” He walked away from the window and approached the table where Mary was sitting. “If they’re drunk, it’s not off our supplies and the crew doesn’t care much for buying their own.”

“Bet that didn’t go over well,” Mary shook her head, glancing up at Adéwalé. “Where is Kenway, anyway? I thought he said somethin’ about goin’ over these with us.”

“Gone when I woke up this morning,” Adéwalé said as he stared at the maps, taking one in his hand and holding it up to the light, as if this would allow him to understand it better. 

“Tha’s a bit unusual for him,” Mary grabbed a map falling from the table without so much as a blink. “He usually likes to go swimming in the morning.” She cracked her neck back and forth. “An’ always tries to get me to go, too.”

“A good swim never hurt anyone,” Adéwalé set the map down on the table before gesturing to the lot and adding ,“as would taking a break from these.”

“Ya know I think I'll have to agree with you on that one,” Mary nodded, pushing back the chair and standing up, stretching her arms in front of her. “I feel like I’ve been sitting for days.”

“It would be nice to have a bit of rest,” Adéwalé commented, walking across the room and grabbing a pitcher of wine from atop the nearby dresser.

“Too bad we’re always runnin’ around like chickens without ‘eads,” Mary said as Adéwalé poured the wine into two glasses on the table, taking one that he offered her. “Cheers.”

Adéwalé nodded as he drank some from his own glass.

“I suggest a few days of rest and repair, both for the men and for the ships,” he noted. “The men can get stir crazy when aboard a ship for too long and the ships need attention, as well.” He drained his glass before adding, “it won’t do us any good to chase after a fleet when we can barely stay awake.”

“Ya give good advice, Adé,” Mary had picked up the habit from Edward. “I see why Kenway values you so much.”

“If he only listened,” Adéwalé shrugged.

“Well, I think I'll see how the repairs to my ship are coming,” Mary drank some more wine before she continued. “The crew has a habit of slacking off when we reach port.”

“And I should check ours, as well,” Adéwalé said as he headed for the door. “We’re meant to meet some merchants for trading once we leave here.”

Mary nodded as he left, pouring herself some more wine as she walked out to the veranda, sitting just under the roofing as she watched the rain splash onto the stone. She agreed with Adéwalé when he said that they needed some rest, but she was never the sort to take a day off. Anne and Rackham always had to remind her when she was working too hard and were often frustrated when she kept working anyway. At the same time, it was the perfect sort of day for sitting around and doing nothing in particular.

“Or maybe I can figure out why they’re singin’ so loudly,” she said to herself, setting the glass down underneath the window out of the rain.

Stepping out into the storm, she walked down the stone steps and soon found herself walking into the village, past the civilians dashing back to their houses to avoid getting drenched.

“Why bother?” Mary muttered under her breath. “You’re already out in it.”

After a moment of wandering around, she managed to locate the source of the singing as the tavern near the docks, which didn’t surprise her in the slightest. Mary figured that the crew had consumed copious amounts of alcohol, as they often did when they got rowdy, but when she stepped onto the deck and saw her crew, she saw no empty bottles of rum. No one was stumbling around, tripping over tables and chairs, or attempting to climb up to the roof, as some of the crew did when they had too much to drink. 

Walking past the bar, Mary soon found something she hadn’t expected to see: Edward sitting in the centre of a group of men, the crew from his ship and hers, clearly instructing them in something. She stood watching them for a moment or two before he noticed her presence and gestured for her to approach.

“And it looks like Kidd has decided to join us,” Edward said as she walked up to the group.

“An’ what are ya doin’ here with my crew, Kenway?” she asked as she sat down next to Edward.

“Captain was teachin’ us some shanties,” a man from her ship, a small blond boy who barely looked old enough to hold a sword, answered with an eager look in his eyes.

“They’d never learnt any shanties,” Edward explained, “so I thought I’d teach them a few.”

“We never sing any shanties on your ship, you know,” another man from her crew, a taller man named Jackson, chimed in.

“I've never said ya can’t,” Mary replied. “I just don’t sing.”

“A ship without shanties?” Edward looked properly taken aback, as if someone had just punched him in the face.

“They can sing all they want once they’ve finished the repairs,” Mary said, eyeing her crew, who looked sheepishly at each other. “Aye, I know ‘bout that.”

“Then can we learn some?” Jackson asked.

“Didn’ you hear a word I said?” Mary sighed. “Jus’ get back to work.”

With a few grumbling complaints, the group scattered off to their respective ships, leaving only Edward and Mary standing alone on the deck.

“I've never said that they couldn’t,” Mary protested when Edward arched an eyebrow at her.

“They’ve got a point, though,” Edward said as they both stood and walked back out to the docks.

“An’ what is that?” Mary questioned as she followed Edward through the village.

“I’ve never heard you sing,” Edward answered, turning around to glance at her.

“I don’t like singing,” Mary shrugged, wondering what all the fuss was about as they headed into the jungle.

“And why not?” Edward clearly wasn’t going to drop this line of conversation anytime soon.

“Dunno,” Mary shrugged again, following Edward into a clearing with a waterfall and a diving pool. “Jaysus, Edward, are you ever gonna give up on this?”

“It’s a bit weird that you don’t,” Edward said, stripping down to only his trousers and jumping into the water. “And no, I’m not.”

Mary rolled her eyes, realizing that she should have known Edward to do something like this. It happened when he wanted her to team up with him hunting a treasure fleet some months back. He kept asking her about it every day until she eventually caved in. 

“So why don’t you sing?” Edward asked her again.

“Just don’t,” Mary looked around, making sure that they were alone, before taking off her boots and jacket and jumping in after him. “There. Happy?”

“What about the rest of it?” Edward frowned in confusion. Mary shot him a look before he quickly replied with, “Yes quite, thanks.”

Mary turned and swam in the other direction, as if she was trying to ignore him. 

“So why are you so bothered by that?” she asked. “Most don’t really care about that sort of thing at all.”

“But I’m not most people,” Edward grinned deviously.

“Aye, I know that,” Mary flipped over so that she was floating on her back.

“You know them, don’t you?” Edward asked, treading water with his legs. “The shanties?”

“How can I not be around Rackham and Thatch an’ the rest of you lot and not know them?” Mary answered flippantly. 

“And yet you don’t sing,” Edward mused, swimming around to where Mary was floating. “Must be boring on trips.”

“We tell stories an’ such,” Mary responded, closing her eyes and listening to the sound of the waterfall behind her.

“Maybe it would give you away,” Edward said, this time sounding like he was actually speaking to Mary and not just talking to himself.

“What do you mean?” Mary couldn’t figure out what he was talking about.

“You might be able to pass as a man when you speak,” Edward spun around in the water so that he was facing her “, but maybe you can’t sing as a man.” He watched as she floated across the water. “Does your voice not go as deep as a woman?”

“Clearly not,” Mary shook her head before she dove under water, swimming circles for a few seconds before surfacing again. “You’ve heard me speak before, remember?”

“Shall we say that’s why your ship lacks the shanties?” Edward said as he slowly swam to the side of the pool.

“Doesn’t matter to me, but if it’ll get you to shut up, then fine,” Mary nodded. “Satisfied?”

“I suppose,” Edward said. “And I do apologize about your crew. They’d told me that they’d finished the work last night.”

“They always say they’ve finished,” Mary repositioned herself so that she could properly see Edward while she was swimming. “It’ll take at least a week to finish those repairs. Seeing as we docked just two days ago, I think I can say they’ve not finished yet.”

“And what brings you out here, anyway?” Edward asked, climbing out of the pool and sitting cross-legged on the grassy bank. “Adé had said that you two would be studying those charts all day. I didn’t expect to see you out of the manor.”

“He suggested that we take a day off,” Mary replied. “I decided not to argue with him on it.”

“I’ve never known you to take a break from anything,” Edward looked at her incredulously. “Is such a thing possible or have you simply been around me for too long?”

“Oh, shut it,” Mary splashed some water at him, hitting him square in the face. “I just thought it might do a bit of good to take advantage of a rainy day.” She watched Edward attempt to shake off the water she’d splashed on him and said, “Now what’s the point of that? You’ll still be wet because of the rain, mate.”

“Well, the day’s not over yet,” Edward chose to ignore her last comment, though he did give her a quick glare. “I hope you weren’t going to go back to those maps.”

“Thought I might wander for a bit,” Mary answered. 

“Wander?” Edward cocked his head in confusion.

“Just ‘round the jungle,” Mary swam over to the edge of the pool and pulled herself up on the bank. “I like to explore things.”

“We’ve been here for months,” Edward shook his head like a wet dog, sending water flying everywhere. “Not all at once, but months just the same.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Mary answered with an air of dismissiveness. 

“Well, I’m off to see how our stock is looking,” Edward stood up, pulling his boots back on. “Find me later?”

“What for?” Mary asked, reaching for her jacket.

“Might fancy a drink,” Edward told her as he walked off, leaving Mary behind to listen to the sound of the waterfall.

-

It was late when Edward returned from the tavern that night. He knew he couldn’t be out too late or have too much to drink or his quartermaster would scold him, saying that a hangover would cloud his judgment for the next day’s activities.

He took care to step out of his muddy boots and he shook off as much rain from his clothes as he could before going inside, not wanting to trail muddy water all over the floor. 

The manor was dark and quiet, making Edward wonder if anyone was in. Adéwalé had said that he was checking the cargo and taking care of a few errands down at the docks, but he had mentioned that Mary should be back at the manor.

“Wonder if she’s gone to sleep,” Edward thought to himself, hesitantly padding across the hall in bare feet. “Mary? You here?”

When he got no response, Edward tiptoed into the den, wondering if he was indeed alone. As he passed the doorway, he paused hearing faint movement from the room in front of him. Cautiously, he peeked around the corner and saw Mary sitting at the table, the nautical maps and charts replaced with an old wooden chess set. Her eyes were fixed on the black and white pieces in front of her, as if she expected them to come to life. 

“Who’s she playing against?” Edward mused. “Herself?”

Another quick look at the table gave him his answer. A group of pieces had been removed from the board and were sitting next to a bottle of rum that he presumed to be hers. Why Mary was playing chess against herself, he had no idea. He also had no idea why she was humming to herself, as she had told him only that afternoon that she didn’t sing. While he knew that humming and singing were two entirely different things, Edward had always thought that people who liked to sing liked to hum and vice versa.

“Humming, are we?” Edward decided to make his appearance known, though he felt a bit bad when Mary jumped in her chair. “Not the song I’d pick, though.”

“An’ what’s wrong with my choice of song?” Mary challenged, to which Edward responded with a shrug. “I'll have you know that’ ‘Leave Her, Johnny’ was the first one I learnt.”

“I’m not saying it’s a bad one,” Edward responded defensively, pulling up a chair and sitting down across from Mary on the other side of the chessboard. 

“And what are you doin’ here, Kenway?” Mary arched an eyebrow at him. “I figured you’d be getting drunk at the tavern by now.”

“I don’t want to have too bad of a hangover when we finish up with the charts tomorrow,” Edward sighed.

“I know I’d love to be done with the damn lot of ‘em,” Mary leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Maybe you could use a drink after all,” Edward said. “Besides the one you’ve got there, I mean.”

After a moment of thought, Mary wordlessly pushed back her chair, cracking her neck back and forth as she walked around the room.

“Where are you going?” Edward asked. 

“To get more rum. Tha’ one’s empty and I figured you’d want one,” she responded, humming to herself as she started to walk out of the room. 

“Have fun with that,” Edward said, deciding that having some rum might not be a bad idea after all, and followed behind her. “Still humming, you know.”

“I know,” Mary turned around and smirked at him. “And that’s all you’ll ever get to hear.”


End file.
